Iran minister claims 'good chance' nuclear deal could be reached with US ahead of next round of talks
The confirmation of the talks has been dubbed a "positive push" in the effort towards reaching an agreement
An Iranian minister has claimed there is a "good chance" a nuclear deal could be reached with the US ahead of the next round of talks this week.
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Delegates will meet in Geneva on Thursday in an attempt to deescalate rising tensions in the Middle East, where Donald Trump is believed to be mulling over launching strikes.
Oman's foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi said on social media he was pleased to confirm the development "with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal".
The country previously hosted the indirect talks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme and facilitated the latest round of negotiations in the Swiss capital last week.
Read more: UK refuses to let Trump use RAF bases to strike Iran
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS in an interview which aired on Sunday that a "good chance" remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue, adding it was the only matter being discussed.
The developments come after Trump was said to be "curious" about Iran's position, with the US president reportedly questioning why its leaders had not yet "capitulated" amid the build-up of US military forces in the Middle East.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff said: "I don't want to use the word 'frustrated'... because he [Trump] understands he's got plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't - I don't want to use the word 'capitulated' - but why they haven't capitulated.
"Why, under this sort of pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power that we have over there, why haven't they come to us and said 'We profess that we don't want a weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do?'"
The Trump administration has been pushing for concessions from its long-time adversary and has built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades.
Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible, even as Mr Araghchi at the time said Tehran expected to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days.
Mr Araghchi told CBS that Iran was still working on the draft proposal and added that Iran has the right to enrich uranium.
He claimed last week that US counterparts had not asked for zero enrichment as part of the latest round of talks, which is not what US officials have said publicly.
Both Iran and the US have signalled they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear programme fail.
Minutes after Oman's confirmation of talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on social media that "recent negotiations involved the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals".
He added: "However, we continue to closely monitor US actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario.
The US has said Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear programme, and that it has not been enriching uranium since US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Although Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful, the US and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
Talks were deadlocked for years after Mr Trump's decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the US from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Since then, Iran has refused to discuss wider US and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile programme and sever ties to armed groups.
Trump recently sent the Ford, the largest warship in the world, to join America's flagship carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East which further fuelled rumours strikes were imminent.
That followed a "massive armada" which the President sent to the region last month, in what was described as bigger than what was recently seen around Venezuela before President Nicolás Maduro was captured.
In response, the Iranian regime warned it would be "ready to defend itself" if fighting broke out.